Ravindra Jadeja thrilled to have dismissed Michael Clarke once again

He did not really term Michael Clarke his bunny, keeping in mind the threat the Australian skipper could pose but Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was more than thrilled to have taken the batsman’s wicket one more time in the ongoing Test series.

Clarke was flummoxed first ball by Jadeja as Australia reached 273 for three on the second day of the third and penultimate Test at Mohali on Friday.

He lured Clarke to come down the wicket, only to be stumped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The left-arm spinner has already dismissed Clarke three times in the series.

“Bunny…I don’t know. It’s just that whenever I have the ball, he is there facing me,” Jadeja said when asked if he was doing to Clarke what Harbhajan Singh had done with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting in the past.

“We have got to take the last three wickets, bat well and look to take a big first innings lead. If we have a big lead it will be easier for us to bowl (in Australia’s second innings),” Jadeja said.

Asked if frustration had crept in after a wicket-less first session at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, he said, “We had to be patient and bowl in the right areas.

Though we did not get a wicket before lunch, we covered in the last two sessions.”

As far as the wicket was concerned, Jadeja did not think it was as conducive to the slower bowlers as the one in Hyderabad.

“There is not that much turn on the wicket, may be since this is the first day only. I tried to bowl to the stumps.

Whenever there is a bit of turn, I try to do that.”

Asked what India would have done had the coin landed in their favour, Jadeja said, “The plan was to bat first and pile a big first-innings total.”

Sheerly in terms of statistics, Jadeja was the most impressive Indian bowler with figures of three for 56, which included the wickets of Warner and Peter Siddle, besides Clarke.

Considering Clarke’s propensity to notch up big scores, it was a breakthrough India were looking at.

“It’s a very important wicket because if you allow him to settle down, he can make big scores. So I am very thrilled,” Jadeja said.

After the specialist bowlers failed, India turned to Jadeja to give the team the much-needed breakthrough, removing David Warner after the opener had added 139 runs for the first wicket with Ed Cowan.

Considering that one entire day has been lost due to rain, the 24-year-old player was of the opinion that India needed to wrap up Australia’s first innings as soon as possible.

“The aim is to not let them score enough runs, we would look to take the remaining three wickets as soon as possible so that we get enough time to bat”, he said.

First Published on March 16, 2013, 11:28 amLast updated on March 16, 2013, 11:28 am